Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Hawthorne Municipal Airport
(Northrop Field, Air Force Plant
10)
Northrop P-61 "Black
Widow" assembly line at Hawthorne Municipal Airport (National
Archives)
US Army Corps
of Engineers History
The original portion of Hawthorne Municipal
Airport called "Plancor 1469", and which was to become
known as Air Force Plant 10, was
initially acquired by the Defense Plant Corporation (PLANCOR)
from the Northrop Aircraft Corporation through purchase or donation
sometime prior to 1943. At that time it was comprised of 49.24
acres of property within the approximatelY 175 acres of land
now called Hawthorne Municipal Airport. Along with the real property,
the Defense Plant Corporation secured a beneficial interest in
buildings, machinery, and equipment from Northrop Aircraft Corporation.
In 1944, 1.47 additional acres of land was acquired through purchase,
easement, or permit from Northrop Aircraft Corporation, the city
of Hawthorne, and Pacific Electric Railway Company. In 1945,
an easement for 0.11 acres was obtained from Northrop Aircraft
Corporation bringing the total land size of "Plancor 1469"
to 50.82 acres. The united states had no beneficial interest
in the remaining approximately 122.5 acres of Hawthorne Municipal
Airport. The Army Air Forces Technical Training Command operatef
a Factory School at the site
In 1949 "Plancor 1469" was transferred
to the Air Force and became Air Force Plant 10. On 10 July 1952,
the Air Force purchased an additional 0.35 acres from Northrop
Aircraft Corporation to build a fuel test cell facility and then
on 18 March 1957 purchased 1.30 acres from Northrop Aircraft
corporation to build a missile test cell facility. This brought
Air Force Plant 10 to a land size of 52.47 acres.
Air Force Plant 10 was used to design, build, and test military
aircraft.
On 14 December 1960 the Air Force transferred 19.95 acres to
the City of Hawthorne and on 1 June 1964 Northrop Aircraft Corporation
purchased the remaining 32.52 acres of Air Force Plant 10, including
buildings, machinery, equipment, furnishings, and miscellaneous
related property. The 19.95 acres transferred to the City of
Hawthorne has been used for aircraft runway extension and the
remainder of Air Force Plant 10 purchased by Northrop Aircraft
Corporation has continued to the present to be used for the design
and building of aircraft and aircraft components.
There is no recorded evidence or data to indicate that any agency
of the United states government used, owned, leased, or in any
way exercised formal control over that portion of the Hawthorne
Municipal Airport (approximately 122.5 acres) other than Air
Force Plant 10.
Source: US Army Corps of
Engineers, Los Angeles District
Extract,
Army Air Forces Directory of Airfields, January 1945
Army Units
Assigned to Hawthorne Municipal Airport
Data Source
Date(s)
Unit(s)
Army
of the United States Station List
1
June 1943
Army Air Forces:
Civilian Contractor School,
Airframes
Training Detachment, Army Air
Forces Technical Training Command
Army
of the United States Station List
7
April 1945
Army Air Forces:
3717th Army Air Forces Base
Unit (Factory School) (Northrop Aircraft Corporation)
Extract, War
Department Inventory of Owned, Sponsored and Leased Facilities,
1945
Army Air Forces Technical Training
School, Northrop Aircraft Corporation
